Do you look ahead too early?
12-18-2008, 10:58 PM
#21
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Georgia
Posts: 770
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
Guilty as charged. Although I know I'm hunting good land for big bucks and still have a good chance of nailing a big one this season, my mind has already drifted forward to coyote hunting after this season is over. Not only that, I find myself preparing my gear for spring turkey hunting as well. I've already pulled out all my calls and started practicing as I always do this time of year, and next deer season just seems too far away to even think about. I'll kick back into deer mode about next july, thats when the bow gets dusted off and I start practicing hard.
12-19-2008, 06:17 AM
#22
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Heaven is my home, temporarily residing in WNY :)
Posts: 6,679
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
ORIGINAL: GMMAT
Only in the sense I stay out of areas I think bucks will be frequenting NOW (without a tag for them).
I know I shouldn't be thinking this way.....but the LAST thing I wanna see right now is a shooter buck.
Only in the sense I stay out of areas I think bucks will be frequenting NOW (without a tag for them).
I know I shouldn't be thinking this way.....but the LAST thing I wanna see right now is a shooter buck.
12-19-2008, 07:24 AM
#23
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 21,043
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
Why is that, Jeff? You might see a real nice buck and it'll increase your anticipation of next years hunt ..... also let you scout for HIM specificcally..... unless you have regrets of what you shot this season, why WOULDN'T you want to know what you had to look forward next season?
). I tagged out on bucks on 11/30. SO.....at that time....there's 3 guys hunting the new land (gun hunting) and I have two choices:1. Continue to hunt areas that I think are holding a good buck (remember.....I already know where one is)......and take a chance of either bumping him to them (through direct or indirect pressure).....AND maybe tip the off as to where he is.....
Or...
2. Just stay the heck out of there.......and drop back to areas they can't hunt.
The way I see it......(and plenty will probably disagree with me).....if I use the above doctrine....I have a BETTER chance of him being there next year. I'll start my serious scouting after the season closes....and then I'll KNOW he won't be shot (legally). I kinda don't see the point in scouting for an animal that may not be there next year....when I have plenty of time to scout both this year and next for an animal that will most likely be there when bow season opens.
I have a different approach to shed hunting, too. ALL that tells me is....a buck was in that spot.....once. It doesn't tell me if he lives there. It doesn't tell me he's still alive (come hunting season).
I kind of start over each year with a new slate of bucks. I have to assume NONE of them "made it through".
12-19-2008, 07:56 AM
#24
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Heaven is my home, temporarily residing in WNY :)
Posts: 6,679
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
ORIGINAL: GMMAT
Your words, not mine.....as I have NO regrets for the deer I took this year (why should I?). I tagged out on bucks on 11/30. SO.....at that time....there's 3 guys hunting the new land (gun hunting) and I have two choices:
Why is that, Jeff? You might see a real nice buck and it'll increase your anticipation of next years hunt ..... also let you scout for HIM specificcally..... unless you have regrets of what you shot this season, why WOULDN'T you want to know what you had to look forward next season?
). I tagged out on bucks on 11/30. SO.....at that time....there's 3 guys hunting the new land (gun hunting) and I have two choices:
1. Continue to hunt areas that I think are holding a good buck (remember.....I already know where one is)......and take a chance of either bumping him to them (through direct or indirect pressure).....AND maybe tip the off as to where he is.....
Or...
2. Just stay the heck out of there.......and drop back to areas they can't hunt.
The way I see it......(and plenty will probably disagree with me).....if I use the above doctrine....I have a BETTER chance of him being there next year. I'll start my serious scouting after the season closes....and then I'll KNOW he won't be shot (legally). I kinda don't see the point in scouting for an animal that may not be there next year....when I have plenty of time to scout both this year and next for an animal that will most likely be there when bow season opens.
I have a different approach to shed hunting, too. ALL that tells me is....a buck was in that spot.....once. It doesn't tell me if he lives there. It doesn't tell me he's still alive (come hunting season).
I kind of start over each year with a new slate of bucks. I have to assume NONE of them "made it through".
12-19-2008, 08:07 AM
#26
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Heaven is my home, temporarily residing in WNY :)
Posts: 6,679
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
ORIGINAL: GMMAT
I hear ya, T. If there were NO chance of anyone taking them (legally).....I'd be all over that piece. ALL seasons close here (in my zone), Saturday (heck....that's TOMORROW!)
I hear ya, T. If there were NO chance of anyone taking them (legally).....I'd be all over that piece. ALL seasons close here (in my zone), Saturday (heck....that's TOMORROW!)
12-19-2008, 09:22 AM
#27
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Land of Oz
Posts: 9,626
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
I've taken to keeping notes for the past few years. I keep a note pad in the camper and I record reminders for the next season. Later I transfer them to a Word document.
I note things like which stands need moved, what gear needs repaired or replaced, and most importantly all the little things I've learned during the present season.
This year I discovered that one of the trees near where we'd always seen a lot of movement was actually a pair tree and a great food source. (We always thought it was a cherry tree since that is what it looked like from a distance.)
I quickly put a stand in that tree and killed my 08 buck from it. Turns out its a deer magnet and I mean a big time deer magnet.
In my notes I recorded when the pairs fall and the leaves disappear from that tree. That's the kind of stuff that's easy to forget in a year's time, when you hunt many stands and location.
Since deer movement within a given area can change, I note where I'd like to move or place a stand the following season.
Also the gear associated with bow hunting is crucial to success and comfort. I note what gear works best and what clothing is best for me in different temps. I note which scents got results, reminders about batteries for the flashlight and the rangefinder, things about the camper, the groceries, which stands need new bow ropes, and on and on.
Between family, work, and the all the serious fishing I do, its hard to remember so many details from one year to the next. The less left to memory the smoother things seem to go.
Yep, I always look forward.
I note things like which stands need moved, what gear needs repaired or replaced, and most importantly all the little things I've learned during the present season.
This year I discovered that one of the trees near where we'd always seen a lot of movement was actually a pair tree and a great food source. (We always thought it was a cherry tree since that is what it looked like from a distance.)
I quickly put a stand in that tree and killed my 08 buck from it. Turns out its a deer magnet and I mean a big time deer magnet.
In my notes I recorded when the pairs fall and the leaves disappear from that tree. That's the kind of stuff that's easy to forget in a year's time, when you hunt many stands and location.
Since deer movement within a given area can change, I note where I'd like to move or place a stand the following season.
Also the gear associated with bow hunting is crucial to success and comfort. I note what gear works best and what clothing is best for me in different temps. I note which scents got results, reminders about batteries for the flashlight and the rangefinder, things about the camper, the groceries, which stands need new bow ropes, and on and on.
Between family, work, and the all the serious fishing I do, its hard to remember so many details from one year to the next. The less left to memory the smoother things seem to go.
Yep, I always look forward.
12-19-2008, 10:01 AM
#28
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location:
Posts: 11,472
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
This year I discovered that one of the trees near where we'd always seen a lot of movement was actually a pair tree and a great food source. (We always thought it was a cherry tree since that is what it looked like from a distance.)
I quickly put a stand in that tree and killed my 08 buck from it. Turns out its a deer magnet and I mean a big time deer magnet.
I quickly put a stand in that tree and killed my 08 buck from it. Turns out its a deer magnet and I mean a big time deer magnet.
12-19-2008, 03:54 PM
#29
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Land of Oz
Posts: 9,626
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
I stumbled onto the same thing this year. Man when those pears drop the deer are all over them. I found the only problem to be the only tree around is the actual pear tree 
. Just the way the stand is situated those little buggers are all over me and under me in a second. Just can't see them (or hear very good). I was looking through my platform at 8 of them for about 45 minutes this year.
. Just the way the stand is situated those little buggers are all over me and under me in a second. Just can't see them (or hear very good). I was looking through my platform at 8 of them for about 45 minutes this year.
That's funny, I had 5 beneath me at one time. It was at the end of the day and I figured I'd just hang up my bow and wait for them to leave so I wouldn't spook them getting out of the stand. I waited nearly 45 minutes and they wouldn't leave. I shook the branches and they just looked up at me and kept feeding. I finally had to just climb down and they boogered and ran off.
I thought that I wouldn't see anything out of that stand for a while, but I killed a decent buck out of the same stand the next morning at 8 o'clock.
And my pair tree is also all by itself about 15 yards out into a green field.
I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to hunting out of that tree next year.
12-20-2008, 07:03 AM
#30
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Ohio and Indiana
Posts: 2,088
RE: Do you look ahead too early?
I've spent ALOT of time recently thinking about next year...The last snow we had a few days ago I did some hunting/scouting to find where the deer are moving in the late season and thank god for snow! But yea Im always thinking about what I can change/improve, like clear cutting a small section for food plot, where to hang the next/new stands, what farms around here I can ask permission to hunt,selectively cutting trees to create moreforest forage, etc..Im already fired up for next year and Im not done hunting this year yet. I actually love the spring because of all the preperation/planting/scouting/ and anticipation (and turkey hunting)for the season to come.